Patriotism in the Land of the Lakota Sioux

Independence Day

July 4, 2020

Live from Lynn, it’s “Godspell”.

Hello, this is Fr Paul Bresnahan, priest of the Episcopal Church.

Welcome back to “Godspell”: a time to spell it out.

Who is God, and how is God involved in our lives?

“Godspell” is a nice old English word for the Gospel or, what I call, the language of God, the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Silence

Blessed be God; The Most Holy, Undivided and Everlasting Trinity. 

And blessed be God’s Kingdom for ever and ever. Amen

Collect for Independence Day; (slightly rephrased)

Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won the hope of liberty for all, and lit the torch of freedom for all: Grant that the people of this land may have grace to maintain liberty with justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The First Reading: Deuteronomy 10:17-21

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the stranger, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; God alone you shall worship; to whom you shall hold fast, and by whose name you shall swear. God is your praise; The Holy One is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.

The Gospel: Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said; ’You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Patriotism in the Land of the Lakota Sioux

I went searching for Patriotism in the Land of the Lakota Sioux. What did I find? A campaign speech. 

Patriotism is love of country, pure and simple. And in today’s Gospel Jesus speaks of love and ups the ante; "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. 

Well, Jesus, I am not “feeling the love”. On a national holiday typically we draw closer together as one people with the music of America on the Boston Esplanade, fireworks displays at the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor or at the Great Monuments in the Nation’s Capital and all across the nation. At least for one day the words emblazoned on the Great Seal of the United States become our Credo; “E Pluribus Unum”. “From the Many One”. 

But at Mount Rushmore Friday Night, the President wanted instead to make a campaign speech. He did not try to draw us together. Rather he played to his base and ridiculed the rest of us. His words were filled with invective and vitriol for those he called the “radical left”. No, I was not feeling the love. Throughout this Presidency, I have never felt it. Not once. In the Gospel for Independence Day, Jesus calls us to Love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. 

But I’m not feeling the love; are you? For instance, history tells us that the land inclusive of Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills of South Dakota, portions of Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana were ceded to the Lakota Sioux by The Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. You know how well we keep our word. In 1980 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Lakota Sioux and said that “tribal lands covered under the treaty had been taken illegally by the US government, and the tribe was owed compensation plus interest. The Lakota Sioux…refused…payment, demanding instead the return of their land.” On Friday night Native Americans were shunted aside from their own land, vilified, pilloried, and arrested to make way for The Great White Father. No arrangements were made for Lakota Sioux to be part of our National Observance at the Trump Rally. Rather they were shamefully treated. I’m not feeling the love.  

Notice the pattern; in Tulsa on the anniversary of Juneteenth and the Tulsa Race Riots there was a campaign speech, and now on our National Holiday, another campaign speech on sacred lands of the Lakota Sioux. They were driven off their land. I’m not feeling the love.

George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and the thousands more like them have been taken from us far too soon at the hands of systemic Police Brutality. We speak out and exercise our right to peaceably assemble. We seek redress for our grievances. History teaches us that Reconstruction and Jim Crow have been enshrined by monuments erected to celebrate the heroes of White Supremacy. The violence continues throughout; lynchings, church bombings, race riots and more recently mass incarceration are simply undeniable historic facts. This is Racism in America. 

But now something new is happening. All across America Black and White, young and old, rich and poor and add to that in this season of Pride, our LGBTQ bothers, sisters, and siblings all rise up seeking to be “One Nation, under God, Indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All”. Every schoolchild knows what our flag stands for. 

Compare that to the vilification and the vitriol we hear from the White House on this National Holiday as he wraps himself in the flag as if it were nothing more than a piece of cloth. I’m not feeling the love are you?

Most Patriotic Americans are bright enough to recognize that we are in the midst of a Pandemic whose outbreak is gaining ground on us. We are adding upwards of 50,000 cases a day. As of this Fourth of July there are 2.8 million cases and 130,000 American souls have been taken from us. Among the victims most cruelly hit; are the elderly, those in nursing homes and veterans facilities, the poor and people of color and Native Americans. 

If I claim to love my country, I would begin with making every effort to protect our citizens from this plague. Health care professionals encourage everyone to wear masks in public, practice social distancing, and good hand hygiene. Simple stuff like that.

Obviously we need to ramp up of testing, identify, track and isolate those who have the virus in order to stop its spread. Heeding the direction of epidemiologists and public health officials is the beginning of patriotism. Incredibly the President discourages testing for fear that we will count more cases. Following in his footsteps Governors in West Virginia, Florida and Texas have dismissed health care professionals who dare to count cases! Now look at the fix we’re in. Hospitals in Houston, Miami and St. Petersburg are chock a block full. 

I am not feeling the love from the President of the United States of America who for months denied and minimized the outbreak and has now politicized basic health policy. To this day, he has yet to mandate wearing masks and practice social distancing. To him the economy, the Almighty Dollar and campaign speeches are more important than human life.

Mr President, before you question my Patriotism, consider your own. Your treatment of Native Americans, People of Color and the LGBTQ community; your refusal to protect Senior Citizens and Veterans in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities, and all those vulnerable to COVID-19 underscores questions we may have of your own Patriotism.

Do you expect me to believe you did not read the memo about Vladimir Putin’s attempt to put a bounty on our soldiers’ heads in Afghanistan? Patriotism is not about you, Mr President, it is about us all of us. And speaking of memos you also missed the one from the Bible passage for Independence Day “God…executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and…loves the stranger…You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” ~Deuteronomy 10.

I’m not feeling the love. This is not the way it should be in this country. There should be no enemies among us. To be sure we will disagree about public policy and we will do so vigorously. This is why Free Speech is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Bill of Right.

To be a Patriot requires that I love you Mr. President. I’d appreciate it if you would return the favor and not just to those who agree with you but to all your citizens. This is what it means to be a President and a Patriot. I love my country and everyone in it. Do you?

In the Name of God the Most Holy, Undivided, and Everlasting Trinity. Amen.

Prayers for the Church and the World

John, hospice

Mary from St Mark’s Church in Saint Albans, West Virginia. 

Lord’s Prayer

A Blessing

See that ye be at peace among yourselves, 

and love one another.

Follow the example of the wise and good

and God will comfort you and help you,

both in this world

and in the world which is to come.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,

wherever He may send you.

May He guide you through the wilderness,

protect you through the storm.

May He bring you home rejoicing

at the wonders He has shown you.

May He bring you home rejoicing

once again into our doors.

And may the Blessing of God the Most holy undivided and everlasting Trinity be upon you this day and always. Amen.

God  Bless us everyone!

Fr Paul

Patriotism takes Everyone!

“Come to Me All who labor and are heavy laden 

 and I will give you rest”

“In the good old summertime” as Nat King Cole used to sing it, and all across the land folks are enjoying time off from their labors and laying down their heavy burdens. Church attendance often is part of the vacation schedule. Thankfully you and I are here this morning to set forth the praise of Almighty God, and take our rest here, and lay down whatever heavy burdens we carry at the altar of God.

I don’t see why we have to wait for summer to lay those burdens down. Nor do we need to schedule in a vacation to enjoy a break from the drudgery of work. What Jesus is getting at in the Gospel message of today as he is every day, is this; “lay down your burdens on me, let me take them on and carry them for you.” 

He goes on to say; “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

You will notice that the clergy wear stoles over their vestments when it comes to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. The stole represents the yoke of Christ. That yoke is indeed easy and its burden is light. By the way, the alb is a vestment that represents our baptism. We put on Christ as we would a garment; this garment; the alb. The word alb in Latin means “white” and represents the fact that our sins are washed away in our baptism. In many places in the early church, everyone who attended the Eucharist wore a garment as a sign that we are all one in Christ and that there are no distinctions among us. The cincture we wear represents the fact that we are girded about with the strength of Christ. And so we are; for the more we live into the life of Christ the more we find our lives strengthened and girded about with his love.

But back to the yoke of Christ. We know that oxen are beasts of burden and carry heavy weights and their yokes themselves are heavy and built to carry those loads. I suppose that there are those who might think I have some ox like qualities, but I am hopeful that will fade away over time. 

So what does Jesus ask us to carry? It begins with his forgiveness of us. This in turn allows us to repent and thus we learn to become new beings made in the likeness of God. Having been forgiven, we learn to forgive. The burden of our sin is lighter and we are asked by Jesus to remember to lay aside the heavy weight of guilt. 

Or what happens when we get ourselves in a peck of trouble? Years ago I remember going out on the rocks in Gloucester. I didn’t know how slick the seaweed could be as I ventured out further and further. My mother called me to return, but of course, I ignored her and went out as far as I could. My mother’s calls to return now carried a tone mixed with urgency and irritation. It was becoming clearer that she would have to risk herself by coming out on the rocks to bring me back. Then in an instant my feet met a slick of seaweed that was as slippery as a viscous oil. I landed on my back with my wind knocked out of me. As I stared up into the blue sky above and struggled to regain my breath, I also saw my mother come into view above me and she pulled me up by both arms with a few noteworthy epithets. My mother was capable of expressing herself with colorful language. 

I think of God calling to us to be careful as we venture forth into danger. We know what is right and wrong but still we dare and tempt fate. God calls us again and again. His prophets and Jesus call out repeatedly, but many ignore the urgency and even the irritation of their dire warnings. When I speak of these things I speak not only of our individual struggles but our national and international ethic and political self will. Often we find our ethics compromised by greed, self indulgence and violence. And when we fall, great indeed is the fall thereof. And talk about the wind getting knocked out of our lungs, we find ourselves laying there helpless looking up to the heaven. And as we do we will see the kindly face of God looking down upon us and being gracious unto us. God reaches out and takes us by both arms and lifts us up. The economic failure of 2008 has taken the better part of six years to recover from, such was the total moral bankruptcy of many of our largest banks and financial institutions. Somehow, by the grace of God and with some human intelligence we found our way through the financial morass.

It is the good old summer time; the Fourth of July weekend. I’m old enough to remember the nation’s bicentennial. A group of us met on the Esplanade early that day, spread out blankets, had a picnic and played with the then ubiquitous frisbee. By the time Arthur Fiedler appeared for the evening concert, the place was packed. There wasn’t a square inch to spare. It was a wonderful concert. That year we did hear Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, and the fireworks that followed accompanied by the Howitzers on the Charles and the Bells from the Church of the Advent heightened the sense of history and excitement that makes being there in Boston the special gift that this weekend is for anyone who loves this city, this state; and indeed this country.

That year, I drove across the country in honor of the Bicentennial. I drove up through Canada to see some of my friends in Toronto, Sioux St Marie, and Vancouver. Canada’s centennial was in 1967, so I enjoyed seeing vast portions of Canada’s prairies, west and Rocky Mountains. I then drove back following Interstate 90. I got off the main highway to see so many things like Devil’s Tower, the Badlands of South Dakota, and Mount Rushmore. By the time I made it back to Minneapolis, I saw more friends, as I did in Chicago, Indianapolis, Winchester, Virginia and then made my way home via the Nation’s Capitol. 

I have served the church in New York City, Massachusetts, Ohio, South Carolina, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Like most Americans I love my country. I also love Canada, Ireland, Britain, France and would love to see India. A patriot is not so much a citizen of these United States alone, but also of the World. As we learned in both World Wars there needs to be a way for the nations of the earth to talk rather than to fight. And while the League of Nations was a failure, and the United Nations is very imperfect, it is better for us to come and reason together as grown ups than it is to engage in the madness of war. 

Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Here on the Fourth of July Weekend in 2014, I find myself living in a nation unable to govern itself because it is divided against itself. I could point fingers but that serves no purpose. Most of you know that I am an outspoken advocate of the poor and the outcast, and few could mistake where I come down on the political spectrum. But rather than engage in simple partisanship on this Fourth of July, I think we need to hold up a vision of hope.

The vision I see is of one of the great symbols of this country; The American Bald Eagle. You will notice that an Eagle, as with any bird, has a left wing and a right wing. So too when we talk of liberals and conservatives we speak of folks on the left wing and on the right wing. Many folk on either wing feel we do not need or want folks on the other. This is absolutely antithetical to the health of the body politic. Just as the Apostle Paul said it; “The eye cannot say to the hand, I do not need you.” ~I Corinthians 12:21

A bird obviously cannot fly without both wings. We have shut down the government. We have been unable to pass any jobs bill since the depression of 2008. Important infrastructure improvements languish because of our failure to pass a highway bill. The left wing and the right wing cancel each other out in our present political climate. This is an error of critical importance. How can a bird fly without both wings. And yet this is exactly what is happening to this nation. We’re stranded. We are grounded. We are wasting valuable time as the rest of the world moves along. 

It needn’t be so. If for instance, we could bury our partisanship and come together to negotiate our differences, we could find ourselves borne aloft on Eagle’s wings. The prophet Isaiah tells us; “Come let us reason together.” (Isaiah 1:18) Imagine if we could do that? We’re losing valuable time. We are losing ground. 

I do have a vision of a nation coming together like we did during World War II. They were called “the greatest generation”. And so they were. True patriots, who endured the hardships of depression and war, set aside their differences to work on a common goal. Imagine if we ever figured out that we are all on the same side? Imagine if we were like an Eagle with all of its constituent parts working together. We could soar!

It is just a fanciful vision. But we have seen it before. We could see it again. And on this Fourth of July, this is how I choose to listen to Jesus. Because his burden is light, because his yoke is easy, we, my friends may soar like and eagle.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Fr Paul

From A Marine

In the Election's Aftermath

My thanks to Sally, our parish administrator, for this inspiring post. Somewhere way back in my distant memory I remember a time when we were all loyal patriots, Republicans and Democrats/Liberals and Conservatives. We disagreed, but we respected one another. Somewhere along the way, we lost that sense of mutual respect and began an unfortunate downward spiral of insult and bitterness.

Sally saw this post and shared it with me.

Allow me to share it with you, in hopes; since hope is sometimes all we have, that we may begin again.

Peace be with you,

Fr Paul

"My Dad is 87 years old and still kicking. He's a Marine, because once a Marine, always a Marine and fought in the Korean conflict. Now, me, being a hippie in my youth, you can imagine we didn't always see eye-to-eye, (or I should say, pretty much never did we agree) especially about our politics. So, it is to that I would like to share with all of you, and the nation if I could, something my father asked me a month or so prior to the election.

"What's all this stuff about?, all the name calling and placing blame? Where do people think that's gonna' getem'?" (this in reference to the campaigning)

Well, I said, people are really opinionated, you know. . thinking we were about to have an intimate epiphany about our past together.

"No, (he said), I mean, when I was young the people had their opinions, and when a man was elected, to any office, whether it was a local elections or the
President, everyone put down their opinions and stood behind the person who was in office, even the other party". "We respected the person elected and stood behind those decisions because we are 'Americans', and that's what made our country strong, the fact that we could band together and make things work". He finished by asking "what's wrong with people today?"

In light of this I would ask you all to consider a wise old Marine's thoughts, show him that it's still true, we 'can bond together' we can honor the leader of our nation, and stand together to 'get it done'.

Forget the mess that was created in the Nixon era, when we all lost our heros, and let's get on with it. Whata' you say?

Thanks for giving my Dad a voice!

Gracie"